Category: Affiliate Linking Tools & Resources

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Affiliate Linking Tools & Resources Performance Marketing

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Photo Credit: Daniel Broche www.danielbroche.com/daniel_broche/2009/08/ecommerce-2009...
Photo Credit: Daniel Broche
Photo Credit: Daniel Broche

In its most basic form, affiliate marketing is a reward system used by many e-commerce brands and businesses that acknowledge customers who have been sent to them via a third party. In exchange for directing purchasers to them, the merchant then shares a percentage of that sale with the referrer.

Affiliate links are abundant throughout the Internet. In fact, it’s likely you’re clicking affiliate links every day without realizing it because the very best affiliate networks provide a seamless, behind-the-scenes transition from host page -> affiliate tracking server -> storefront. Shopping and coupon sites, social media pages, musician websites, online ads, and, more recently, mobile apps are all suitable homes for affiliate links.

To be an expert on affiliate marketing (also known as Cost Per Action marketing or Performance Marketing, though some believe there are subtle differences), it helps to be familiar with the key players and understand the relationship between their respective roles in the process:

The Customer is you, or me, or any John Doe with an Internet connection, who likes to peruse the web in search of their favorite products and offerings that can be purchased online.

The Merchant is a brand, retailer or business who hosts an e-commerce storefront and receives customers coming on his or her own initiative, as well as customers referred from a publisher. iTunes and Amazon are two examples of major international retailers who run their own affiliate programs.

The Publisher, or referrer, can be any third party with an online presence (website owner, blogger, app developer, email marketer, etc.) who hosts a promotion, advertisement or otherwise normal link to a merchant’s store. In the case of affiliate marketing, that link also includes a little something extra in the form of affiliate technology. Among other things, that extra affiliate information is later used to reward the publisher for some or all of the purchases made by a referred source.

The Affiliate Network is the nerdy “monkey in the middle” between merchant and affiliate. The network is responsible for the backstage engineering work that allows millions of clicks around the world to be quickly and correctly translated and routed without you, the customer, being any the wiser. (The really, really good networks *hint, hint* also provide cool additional features like advanced tracking and reporting that allow for optimization and highly targeted affiliate campaigns.)

Across the wide spectrum of brands and networks that utilize affiliate marketing, there are slight variations in everything from rewards to guidelines, to payment models. For example, one merchant might reward an affiliate for every purchase a referred customer makes, while another might reward the affiliate on a one-time basis and yet another might administer commissions on all purchases made within a specific window of time.

Regardless of these differences, affiliate marketing is becoming predominant in online advertising because it’s an efficient model (compared to buying ads by the impression or click). Merchants are happy to devote a small portion of their earnings if it means they are receiving additional customers with minimum risk. On the flip side, publishers have a tremendous opportunity for opening an additional revenue stream of affiliate commissions.

Clothes, apps, books, music, games (the virtual kind, as well as that vintage 1950’s Monopoly set you’ve been scouring the web in search of), and more can all be purchased online. And where there’s an opportunity for an online purchase, there’s an affiliate opportunity.

Categories
Affiliate Linking Tools & Resources Geniuslink News

GeoRiot Affiliate Article In App Marketer


photo 3app mktr preview

Looking for some Monday afternoon reading? Why not download the latest issue of App Marketer Magazine and check out our CEO / Co-Founder Jesse Lakes’ featured article on affiliate linking through the iTunes / App Store affiliate program!

“The No Brainer Revenue Model” takes an in-depth look at the affiliate program as a means for which App Developers can develop and nurture an additional revenue stream through their existing marketing channels. In addition to discussing the obvious benefits associated with affiliate linking, Lakes also describes two lesser-known features within the program that add to its overall effectiveness as a marketing tool: tracking / metrics and gaining access to Apple’s library of promotional content.

Head to the App Store now to download your copy of the issue and as a ‘Thank You’, you’ll receive a free 3-month subscription, compliments of the folks at App Marketer! Simply enter code “3monthvip” at checkout.

Categories
Affiliate Linking Tools & Resources Geniuslink Product Release

georiot.co ‘Performance Reports’ Added To Dashboard

Affiliate link performance reporting software

After pushing GeoRiot.com 3.0 in January, we shifted our focus inward and began phase two of the renovation: rolling out the new GeoRiot dashboard. Within today’s release you’ll find updated support for your georiot.co links, new filters for your existing reports, and our new Performance Reports feature, a central stats page for all of your affiliate campaigns.  Here, you can easily check the status, monitor the performance and receive optimization tips for each of your georiot.co links individually.

Here’s a quick look at some of the new features our updated dashboard now offers:

“The GeoRiot Boost” is an in-depth look at the four key metrics of your georiot.co links. To check the boost for any of your links, click “View Report” from any link found on your “Links” page. You’ll then be shown the Performance Report with all of the relevant metrics for that particular link.

    1. Total Traffic: Total number of clicks we’ve helped you serve for this link.
    2. Lifetime Reach: The number of different countries from which you saw clicks!

 

    1. Translated: This is the percent of clicks that would have resulted in an error message if we hadn’t translated the link for you!

 

  1. Affiliated: This is the percent of clicks that you were able to affiliate with your affiliate tracking parameters.

“Export It!” Are you a spreadsheet kinda person? We’ve got you covered. From the individual georiot.co stats pages you can export your clicks over time and by country to .CSV for slicing and dicing however you want.

“Filter Your Traffic” It’s now even easier to analyze your click traffic with the ability to filter any report by traffic source and advertiser (in preparation for our rollout of support for Amazon and their Associates program).

“GeoRiot Recommends” is a feature you’ll see a lot more of in future updates, but we’re excited to give you a sneak peak. Are you getting a lot of traffic from France but not set up to earn those commissions? We’re on it and we’ll let you know what our experts recommend in order to boost your revenue. You’ll find our optimization suggestions in the bottom left corner of Performance Report pages.

Categories
Affiliate Linking Help Affiliate Linking Tools & Resources

How To: Building App Developer Links

Building App Developer links.

In our ongoing effort to provide customers with helpful tools and resources to accompany our world-class platform, we’ll be posting a series of “How To” blogs designed to help maximize your efforts and ensure the success of your affiliate linking campaigns.

Today’s topic: Building App Developer links.

Unlike standard links to apps, songs, movies or books, links for App Developer pages are device and desktop-specific.  Because of this, the standard itunes.apple.com link for an App Developer doesn’t always work on certain iOS devices and will result in an error message (and you know how we feel about any user getting an error message!).

The workaround is simple: use a “search.itunes.apple.com” link with the developer name as the term, “media=software” and “mt=8” in the link parameters.

Using the link below, simply update the “term” value to reflect the name of the app developer you’d like to use,

http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=software&term=rovio%20entertainment

Finally, jump into GeoRiot dashboard to create your GeoRiot link.  Click Links > Create a Link to build a link that works on iOS 4, 5 and 6 as well as across the desktop stores. (And “yes” this link will work just like all of your other GeoRiot links and use the affiliate tracking parameters you’ve provided.)

We got a little carried away testing all sorts of link combinations to see why some links work on some devices and not others. Check out our notes below and of course, feel free to drop us a link and tell us what you think.

Artist Links

1.) Developer/ artist page with mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/rovio-entertainment-ltd/id298910979?mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 Yes
iOS5 No Yes
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE:
iOS 5 iPhone: “Item not available in the US Store”

 

2.) developer/ artist page

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/rovio-entertainment-ltd/id298910979

iPhone iPad
iOS 4 Yes
iOS 5 No Yes
iOS 6 Yes No
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

 

 

 

NOTE:
iOS 5 iPhone: “Item not available in the US Store”
iOS 6: iPad – blank screen titled “Rovio Entertainment Ltd.”

“ax” Search Links

3.) “ax” Search link with %20 & mt=8
http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio%20Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 Yes No
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop No
Mac Desktop No

NOTE:
iOS 5 iPad – No search information in header or search box.  Loaded all media types excluding apps.
iOS 5 iPhone – Search bar “Rovio Entertainment”
iOS 6 iPhone – “Rovio Entertainment” in search
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.  Loaded all media types BUT apps.
Desktop – Just loads the main storefront.

4.) “ax” Search link with + & mt=8
http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio+Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 Yes No
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop No
Mac Desktop No

NOTE:
iOS 5 iPad – No search information in header or search box.  Loaded all media types excluding apps.
iOS 5 iPhone – Search bar shows “Rovio+Entertainment” – not ideal.
iOS 4 iPad didn’t set search box.  Loaded all media types BUT apps.
iOS 6 “Rovio+Entertainment” in search
iOS 4 iPad didn’t set search box.  Loaded all media types BUT apps.
Desktop – Just loads the main storefront.

5.) “ax” Search link with %20 http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio%20Entertainment

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 No No
iOS6 Yes No
PC Desktop No
Mac Desktop No

NOTE:
iOS 5 iPad – No search information in header or search box. Loaded in iTunes
iOS 5 iPhone – Loads Rovio Entertainment inside iTunes… not what we are looking for.
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t get search box.  Loaded all media types BUT apps.
Desktop – Just loads the main storefront.

6.) “ax” Search link with +

http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio+Entertainment

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 No No
iOS6 Yes No
PC Desktop No
Mac Desktop No

NOTE:
iOS 5 iPad – No search information in header or search box. Loaded in iTunes
iOS 5 iPhone – Loads Rovio Entertainment inside iTunes… not what we are looking for.
iOS 6 iPhone – Has “Rovio Entertainment” in search, but no app results shown w/ all other types displayed
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.  Loaded all media types BUT apps.
Desktop – Just loads the main storefront.

7.) “ax” Search link with +, mt=8, and media=software http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=software&term=Rovio+Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 Yes
iOS5 Yes Yes
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop No
Mac Desktop No

NOTE:
iOS 5 iPad – Loads in the App Store.  Best series of results from the ax.search list, but nothing in search box.
iOS 5 iPhone – search bar shows “Rovio+Entertainment” – not ideal, but not bad. In App Store and shows games.
iOS 6 iPhone – has “Rovio+Entertainment” in search
iOS 4 iPad didn’t set search box.
Desktop – Just loads the main storefront.

8.) “ax” Search link with %20 , mt=8, and media=software http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=software&term=Rovio%20Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 Yes
iOS5 Yes Yes
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop No
Mac Desktop No

NOTE:
iOS 6 iPhone – Has “Rovio Entertainment” in search
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.
iOS 5 iPad – Correct results, but nothing in the search box
iOS 5 iPhone – Correct results w/ “Rovio Entertainment” in the search box
Desktop – Just loads the main storefront.

Search Results

9.) Search link with %20 and mt=8
http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio%20Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 Yes No
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

NOTE:
iOS 6 iPhone – Has “Rovio Entertainment” in search
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.  No app results, but all other media results shown.
iOS 5 iPad – Goes to iTunes, doesn’t show apps, empty search box
iOS 5 iPhone – Correct results, “Rovio Entertainment” in search box, all good!

10.) Search link with + and mt=8

http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio+Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 Yes No
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

NOTE:
iOS6 iPhone – Has “Rovio+Entertianment” in search
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.  No app results, but all other media results shown.
iOS 5 phone – Good, “Rovio+Entertainment”
iOS 5 iPad – Went to iTunes store, no apps, empty search box

11.) Search link with %20

http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio%20Entertainment

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 Yes No
iOS6 Yes No
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

NOTE:
iOS6 iPhone – Has “Rovio Entertainment” in search, but apps missing from results
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.  No app results, but all other media results shown.
iOS 5 iPhone – All good, “Rovio+Entertainment” in search box
iOS 5 iPad – Goes to iTunes, no apps, nothing in search box

12.) Search link with +

http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=all&term=Rovio+Entertainment

iPhone iPad
iOS4 No
iOS5 No No
iOS6 Yes No
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

NOTE:
iOS6 iPhone – Has “Rovio+Entertainment” in search, but apps missing from results
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.  No app results, but all other media results shown.
iOS 5 Phone – Goes to iTunes with “Rovio Entertainment” in the subject line
iOS 5 iPad goes to iTunes with nothing in search, showing no apps

13.) Search link with +, mt=8, and media=software
http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=software&term=Rovio+Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 Yes
iOS5 Yes Yes
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

NOTE:
iOS6 iPhone – Has “Rovio+Entertainment” in search
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.
iOS 5 iPhone – Gets good results, w/ “Rovio+Entertainment” in search box
iOS 5 iPad – Gets good results with nothing in the search box

14.) Search link with %20 , mt=8, and media=software
http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=software&term=Rovio%20Entertainment&mt=8

iPhone iPad
iOS4 Yes
iOS5 Yes Yes
iOS6 Yes Yes
PC Desktop Yes
Mac Desktop Yes

NOTE:

iOS6 iPhone – Has “Rovio Entertainment” in search
iOS 4 iPad – Didn’t set search box.
iOS 5 iPhone – All good w/ “Rovio Entertainment” in the search box
iOS 5 iPad – All good but nothing in the search box